Praise for the ‘bad boy’

Tuesday, 31/08/2010

Joey Barton has well and truly deserved most of the stick he’s been given in the past.

Some of his actions on the pitch and quite a lot off it have rightly earned him a ‘bad boy’ tag.

But, just for once, let’s give him a pat on the back.

The Newcastle midfielder has been claiming over the past few months that he’s a reformed character.

Injuries and off the field distractions have somewhat curtailed his career since his move to St. James’ Park, but he now says he’s determined to put the past behind him.

Certainly his displays on the pitch are getting closer to that form that made him such a star at Manchester City and pushed him towards the England team.

And his attitude at Wolves over the weekend also was also far better than you would have expected.

BBC’s Match of the Day showed no less than seven horrendous tackles on the Scouser. Now in the past any one of those tackles would have seen him booked, in a brawl and possibly sent-off.

Not this time! Barton got up, dusted himself off and got on with the game. Ok, so he had a quick “chat” at the end of the game with Wolves boss Mick McCarthy, but no harm in that.

There’s little doubt that a few niggles went in to try and upset Barton’s play and see how he reacted. It wasn’t the reaction we might have expected.

Now, of course, he must retain that composure and maintain his form. That’s going to be the hardest task.

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